YOUR WAY ON THE WATER
Like messing about in boats? The Great West Way offers dozens of opportunities to do just that, from captaining a narrowboat yourself to pushing out by canoe Words: Helen Ochyra
We hope you will enjoy our selection of 10 of the best ways to explore the Great West Way by water:
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CRUISE TO HENRY VIII’S HOME îClimb aboard one of Thames River Boats’ vessels at Kew and you’ll cruise past the glorious gardens before sailing around a bend in the river to encounter some of West London’s finest vistas, from the picture-postcard pubs of Richmond to the grand 17th-century mansion of Ham House and Garden. The cruise finishes at Hampton Court Palace, once home to notorious monarch Henry VIII. TEST YOUR METTLE AT CAEN HILL îThe 28 Devizes Locks form one of the greatest challenges in English boating. Here you’ll rise 72 metres (237ft) in just two miles, pushing open and pulling shut 28 sets of heavy wooden lock gates to travel uphill to the market town of Devizes. Fortunately you’re unlikely to be alone – this is a busy stretch of the Kennet & Avon Canal and help is often at hand.
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RELAX ON A NARROWBOAT CRUISE îDon’t fancy driving a narrowboat yourself? Take one of the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust’s tours instead, climbing aboard the Barbara McLellan at Bradford on Avon wharf for a slow cruise along a bucolic stretch of the canal. The bow is open for enjoying the view and there’s a licensed bar. SAIL INTO WIND IN THE WILLOWS îCheck out the riverbanks that inspired Kenneth Grahame’s Wind in the Willows on a two hour tour of the Thames from Reading with Salters Steamers. Cruise through four traditional locks, passing Sonning and its famous bridge, before arriving at Henley, where you could visit the Wind in the Willows exhibition at the River & Rowing Museum. HOP ON BOARD THE MATTHEW îCruise along Bristol’s old dock cranes in this fabulous and faithful reconstruction of the boat used by John Cabot when he discovered Newfoundland in 1497, and enjoy all the water activity that makes Bristol one of Europe’s most interesting maritime cities. →
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